|
Natsuneko (lit. "the Summer Cat") is the pseudonym of a mangaka mainly known for her Girls Love one-shots. Natsuneko's works include:
- Quilt Queen (debut). Driven by their childhood promise, a beginning fashion designer Sakura struggles to become an equal to her already-famous model (and secret lover) Dahlia.
- Quilt Queen extra. Sakura and Dahlia attend their classmate's wedding, which leads Sakura to question their relationship.
- Butterfly 69. The secret relationship between a rough, tough (but secretly oh-so-submissive) rocker girl Maria and her prim and proper (but secretly oh-so-very-Romantic-Abuser) class rep Ageha is threatened by Maria's decision to pursue a career abroad.
- Butterfly Effect. At least three months into Maria's tour in US, she has to decide whether to accept a lucrative business offer or to take a vacation and meet Ageha again.
- Instant Summer. A prank played on Ageha ends very embarrassingly for Maria.
- Beautiful Pain. The threat of an Arranged Marriage prompts the upper-class young lady Hokuto to elope with her beloved half-sister Lily, but things don't go as planned. Or do they?
- Beautiful Pain extra. Hokuto's mother grows suspicious of the sisters' "lovey-dovey" relationship.
- Rooftop Miracle. Two girls, Kyouko and Mirai, decide to commit suicide on the same spot, at the same time, for the same reason. It ends happily.
- Spicy Sweets. Yuu, a rich girl with a Dark Secret, discovers that her romance with the sweet, innocent cake-maker Aki is threatened by her family coming to visit.
- Blue Line. A Cute Ghost Girl Yui meets a mysterious beauty named Yuria on the beach, who claims to be her big sister. But things are not quite what they seem.
- Her Desire. A four-page piece about a twisted love between an unwilling bully and a willing victim.
- Nightmare Syndrome. A Tsundere Vampire Hunter Elysia, trapped inside Lesbian Vampire Vega's castle, finds herself developing very unprofessional feelings towards her mark.
- Incident at Honnoji Temple. Another four-page piece, this time about Teacher-Student Romance between a manipulative schoolgirl Akechi and her perverted teacher Ora. The title is rather random.
Tropes found in Natsuneko's manga:[]
- Arranged Marriage: Hokuto opposes it strongly.
- An Astral Projection Not a Ghost: In Blue Line, the ghost of Yuria's "dead" little sister Yui turns out to be her out-of-body experience while her body lies in coma in the nearby hospital.
- Big Eater: Elysia. She doesn't have any reservations about enjoying Vega's hospitality, despite trying to kill her every other day.
- Blackmail: Maria tries to "take the reins" in their relationship by taking nude pictures of Ageha. Ageha retaliates with a whole shelf of "Maria DVDs".
- Brains and Bondage: Ageha is obviously into D/s.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Maria is so good at singing, the teachers just prefer to ignore her delinquent ways.
- But Not Too Foreign: Maria is half-Japanese, (probably) half-German.
- Calling Card: The Con Artist in Rooftop Miracle gives each girl she robs same rings, which serve to bring Kyouko and Mirai together.
- The Chessmaster: The twist ending of Beautiful Pain reveals that Hokuto planned to get disfigured and crippled and Make It Look Like an Accident, so that she won't have to deal with any of her high-class society obligations.
- Christmas Cake: Dahlia and Sakura are 23 in Quilt Queen. Their ex-classmate tells them "not to miss their chance" in extra. They just ignore her.
- Con Artist: The lesbian swindler who tricks both Kyouko and Mirai out of all their savings in Rooftop Miracle on pretense of going to US to marry.
- Cool Car: Maria drives a Porsche after the Time Skip. Yuu has a Lamborghini.
- Creepy Cool Crosses: Part of St. Seraphim school uniforms, apparently. What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic
- Cute Ghost Girl: Yui in Blue Line. Or so it seems. She is actually alive, though in coma and her "ghost" is actually her out-of-body experience that only Yuria can see.
- Dark Secret: Yuu's background.
- Dead All Along: Subverted by Yuria in Blue Line: it's not she who is dead, it's Yui who is still alive but in coma.
- Death Glare: The one Yuu gives when Aki is threatened with a gun makes hard-boiled yakuza recoil in fear.
- Delinquents: Maria.
- Distant Finale: The last scene of Butterfly 69 takes place five years later, when All Grown Up Maria and Ageha meet again as accomplished young women and reconfirm their love (the sequel, however, retcons it by having them meet each other regularly during this time).
- Driven to Suicide: The leads of Rooftop Miracle. By the same person.
- Elopement: Hokuto and Lily in Beautiful Pain. They don't get far... just as planned.
- Emergency Transformation: Inverted. It's Elysia who force-feeds Vega with her own blood to save her unlife.
- Eyepatch of Power: Meryl sports one.
- Face of the Band: In-Universe, Maria is pretty much the Butterfly 69.
- Fake Band: The enormously popular eponymous Butterfly 69.
- Gun Porn: Nightmare Syndrome opens with Elysia checking her (considerable) arsenal of firearms.
- Hair Contrast Couple: Natsuneko is in lesbians with this trope. So far, all pairings she wrote had this dynamic:
- Sakura (insecure brunette) and Dahlia (supportive blonde) in Quilt Queen.
- Ageha (dominant brunette) and Maria (submissive blonde) in Butterfly 69.
- Hokuto ("bad" brunette) and Lily (innocent blonde) in Beautiful Pain.
- Kyouko (Shrinking Violet brunette) and Mirai (Large Ham blonde) in Rooftop Miracle.
- Aki (innocent brunette) and Yuu (aggressive blonde) in Spicy Sweets.
- Yui (defenseless brunette) and Yuria (protective blonde) in Blue Line.
- Chiaki (masochistic brunette) and her unnamed sadistic blonde lover in Her Desire.
- Vega (stoic brunette) and Elysia (brash blonde) in Nightmare Syndrome.
- Akechi (manipulative brunette) and Ora (perverted blonde) in Incident at Honnoji Temple.
- Happily-Failed Suicide: Rooftop Miracle. That is all.
- Hard Rock: Maria's style, presumably.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Maria's stage outfit. Also, Mirai.
- Hurt Comfort Fic: Hokuto deliberately turns her relationship with Lily into one.
- I Love You, Vampire Daughter: Vega and Elysia post-Time Skip.
- The Ingenue: Aki.
- Iron Lady: Ageha.
- Large Ham: Maria turns a school festival into an impromptu rock concert just to say goodbye to Ageha.
- Don't forget Mirai's "I CAN FLY!"
- Lesbian Vampire: Vega in Nightmare Syndrome.
- Lighthouse Point: The site of Ageha and Maria's reunion in Butterfly Effect.
- London Town: The setting of Quilt Queen.
- Long-Distance Relationship: Between Maria and Ageha in Butterfly Effect.
- Love Allegory: The cake allegory in Spicy Sweets.
- Love At First Sight: Kyouko is astonished at how naturally her and Mirai's First Kiss takes place.
- Mafia Princess: Yuu in Spicy Sweets.
- Meaningful Name: In Rooftop Miracle: "Kyouko" means "today" and "Mirai" means "future".
- Meganekko: Ora.
- Necktie Leash: A rare all-female example between Akechi (the puller) and Ora (the pulled), followed by a stealth kiss while everyone else in class is distracted.
- Ninja Maid: Meryl in Nightmare Syndrome.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: A random student does it in Butterfly 69.
- One-Gender School: St. Seraphim Music College in Butterfly 69.
- One Head Taller: Post-Time Skip Maria is taller than Ageha, but presumably just as submissive (to her).
- Phenotype Stereotype: Maria has blond hair and a Germanic surname "Steinhardt" (which, incidentally, means "stone hard" and may be a Stealth Pun on "hard rock").
- Also, Dahlia Camus from Quilt Queen.
- And Lily from Beautiful Pain.
- And Mirai from Rooftop Miracle. Noticing a pattern?
- Pimped-Out Dress: The whole point of Quilt Queen. Not surprising how one lead makes them, and the other wears them for a living.
- Perverted Sniffing: Not shown but outright stated that Ora-sensei does it with Akechi's gym clothes.
- The Promise: Between Dahlia and Sakura.
- Psychotic Smirk: Hokuto makes one just before she gets hit by a truck. This is so disturbing to the driver, he doesn't even make an attempt to flee.
- Romanticized Abuse: Ageha, but only towards Maria (just the way she likes it). Everyone else only ever sees her stern public face.
- Also, Ora to her students, though her abuse is purely verbal.
- Runaway Fiancee: Hokuto offers Lily to run away.
- Sister-Sister Incest: Well, technically, Hokuto and Lily are half-sisters...
- Yui and Yuria from Blue Line are an, uh, straight example.
- Silent Scapegoat: Vega did kill Elysia's father but only in self defense, after he and his cronies wiped out her entire clan. Still, she never revealed the painful truth to Elysia, preferring to just take her blame.
- Sole Survivor: Zig Zagged in Blue Line. At first, it seems that Yuria survived the accident that killed Yui; then, it seems that both of them died; then, however, it turns out that both of them are alive.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Ageha and Maria.
- Those Two Guys: Maria's guitarist and DJ are actually named in-story. Nobody cares.
- Twist Ending: Beautiful Pain. And it's disturbing as hell.
- Together Umbrella: Yuu and Aki's romance starts with Aki offering an umbrella to Yuu.
- Tsundere: Elysia is this for Vega: trying to kill her one minute, blushing fiercely at her words the other.
- Unishment: Ageha's manner to, uh, punish Maria for misconduct actually has the latter begging for more.
- The Vamp: Krom Biermann dares suggest that Ageha is just after Maria's fame and money. Cue Unstoppable Rage.
- Vampire Hunter: Elysia in Nightmare Syndrome. Her father was part of a whole organization of them.
- The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: Ageha develops into one.
- Yakuza: Yuu's family.
- You Killed My Father: Elysia is after Vega for killing her father. Except that her father killed Vega's entire clan first.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Lily.